The cash strapped council has found an extra £340,000 in its annual budget to hire a raft of new management.

The authority which was rapped by Ofsted earlier his year “serious and widespread” failings is on the hunt for a director of social care, director of performance and quality assurance, director of education services and director of early help.

The roles come with a hefty £85,000 a year salary each, though it is unclear if the funding for the roles will come from the councils budget or if the newly formed independent trust will have to pay its own way.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the service would be run as an independent trust earlier this month, along with a raft of proposals the government said will ensure ‘not a single child is left behind.’

At the time Sunderland Council’s leader Paul Watson has said that he agreed with Mr Cameron’s intervention.

He said: “Sunderland City Council is entirely at one with the Prime Minister in his desire to achieve the best possible outcomes for all our children.”

“Following the challenge of the Ofsted inspection of June 2015 the Council is seeking to develop a new structure for Children’s Services.”

The under-fire authority is seeking ‘four ambitious managers with strong leadership skills, a successful proven track record in improving service’.

The salaries are more than six times that of the council’s lowest paid members of staff.

The job advert reads: “These are important posts for us and the salaries reflect the work to be done.”

In July 2015 Ofsted rated the council’s children’s services as inadequate and said that systematic failing were putting children at risk.

Inspectors said: “Widespread and serious failures in the services provided to children and their families in Sunderland. This is a corporate failure by senior leaders and managers that leaves children and young people unsafe.”

The Ofsted report painted a picture of an overwhelmed service that was unable to cope with demand. It highlights how no action was taken on 122 cases for five months and how staff failed to adhere to the most basic child protection procedures, adding: “This leaves some children potentially at risk of harm.”